I write for the Guardian

I had an article posted on the Guardian website this morning. It looks at how the Liberal Democrats may respond to David Cameron becoming Tory leader. My conclusion, as far as I reach one, is that we shall probably jog along much as we are now.

Writing about the Liberal Democrats for a wider audience always leaves me torn. Should I dazzle the editor with my cruel wit and insight, or should I be loyal and talk up the party? I general end up somewhere in the middle as my native good humour breaks through.

I am not Charles Kennedy's greatest fan, but there seems to me no point in calling for his head. There is no obvious successor about whom I feel a much warmer, and it is not as though there is an agreed radical liberal programme that would sweep the country if only a Lib Dem would promise to implement it. Kennedy's muddling through reflects the party's thought processes only to well.

There are a couple of other points I wanted to make but had to lose to make the word limit.

The first is that intellectual consistency can be an overrated virtue in politics. Successful parties are marked by their ability to accommodate diverse or even blatantly contradictory interests.

The second is that in a society where to be "posh" is just about the worst sin going, David Cameron may yet find it a handicap to sound and look so obviously an Old Etonian.

Anyway, they pay me and have provided links to both Liberator and this blog. It has been a record day for visitors to Liberal England by a street.

I have written several articles for the Guardian website before, and a couple for the paper itself. If you have nothing better to do, you can find links to them all here.